1 Chapter I

"And this concludes the ten o'clock news," the newsman spoke with a serious face. "Last repeat, if you have seen any of those people, please let your local authorities know." He added, the TV showing a slideshow of the thirty people who went missing from Lawrence the past five days – six each day. The missing people seemed to have been picked at random, they were from different ages, religions and gender.

A shaky sigh left Eve's lips as she fiddled with the golden chain around her neck, turning off the TV and rising from the worn couch. Nervously looking around, she swallowed, noticing how the shadows seemed more elongated and sinister than usual – as if an ominous presence was hidden within them, staring at her with fathomless eyes.

Stretching her arms above her head, the lights suddenly started flickering. Eve jumped up from shock. At once turning off the lights, she raced upstairs, towards the safety of her room.

Normally, she didn't went to bed this early, but looking at how uneasy she felt, Eve had decided to search up the warmth and safety of her bed earlier than usual. Especially with her father having a night shift. Wrapping the blankets around herself like a cocoon, she closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless slumber.

After what felt like only ten minutes, a piercing cry woke her up. Shooting up in her bed, eyes wide open, her heart started racing.

Damian, she realized, recognizing the scream to be her younger brother. She glanced towards the clock on her nightstand, 2:45 it read. Yawning once, she pushed the covers off and stepped out of bed to comfort her brother. With their father returning early in the morning, it was upon Eve to soothe her brother if he woke up from a nightmare.

Still half-asleep, she failed to notice the long and deep scratches on the walls, made by razor-sharp claws.

Damian's cries started getting louder and Eve frowned. He sounds truly terrified, just what kind of monster did he dreamed about this time? She thought to herself, suppressing a sigh. A door slammed shut with a loud bang and the girl jumped. "D-Dad?" She tried shakily, even though she knew it was still hours until his return.

Something cracked underneath her bare feet, a shock of cold creeping up her spine. Looking down, she was shocked – and baffled – to discover that the floor surrounding her brother's bedroom door was covered in a thin layer of frost. Damian was still crying and she was starting to get a really bad feeling.

Gulping down the lump that was starting to form in her throat, she slowly pushed open the door and peeked inside. And then she understood why Damian was crying, and it wasn't because of a nightmare. The nightmare had come to him instead.

A monster that seemed to come straight out of a nightmare was hovering over her brother. Damian had covered his small head with his Superman bed-sheet and was crying loudly, pressed against his headboard and Loki – his stuffed lion – held against his chest.

Eve's brain failed to comprehend what she was seeing. Except for one thing, her little brother was about to be devoured – or taken – by a vaguely humanoid shadow. When the shade stretched one of its shadowy claws out towards Damian, she froze.

Damian, she thought with a pang in her heart. There's no way she would let any harm come towards her baby brother. As the elder sister, she had to protect him – that's what her mother always said before she passed away. She wouldn't break that promise.

Pushing down her fear and doubts, she opened her mouth. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!!" She screamed at the shadow.

The shadow seemed almost startled, it completely stilled its movements and soundlessly turned around. An eerie aura surrounded it, coming off it in dark waves. Odd violet eyes, slitted like a snake's, stared back. Annoyed that it was being disturbed, the shadow emitted an inhuman screech which made her skull ring.

Turning completely away from her petrified brother, the shadow darted her way, outstretching its claws and enveloping her in shadow and darkness. The last thing she heard was her brother calling out her name. At least he's safe, she thought, letting the shadow take her away as everything turned black.

~ ~ ~

Blood was pulsing through her veins like wildfire, with a throbbing head, she opened her eyes. Feeling slightly dizzy and with a metallic taste in her mouth, Eve sat up slowly, only to discover that she couldn't.

Heart racing, she tried to move around but something held her back. Whatever that shadow thing was, it did not kill her on spot, instead it took her somewhere. Her eyes having adjusted to the darkness, she could make out that she was surrounded by bars. A cage, she realized in shock.

A collar of some sorts was put around her neck, if she hyperventilated too much she would have trouble breathing, so Eve took a few deep steadying breaths to calm down her erratic heart. Shuffling around slightly, the rattling of chains met her ears and looking down, she saw that a thick chain was attached from the collar to a place somewhere in the dark.

Rustling met her ears and Eve jumped in shock, bumping her head on the cage's roof and the chains almost chocking her in the progress.

"It's the end," she heard a voice say not too far from her. "It's the end. We're all going to die," the same voice spoke again, the raw emotion Eve could hear in the woman's voice was enough to make a lump form in her throat. There wasn't even a single shred of hope or life left in the devastated voice.

Looking at the direction the voice came from, she noticed other cages. All of them contained what appeared to be a human. They either laid completely still, were rocking back and forth slowly or they were softly crying to themselves.

A soft cry from next to her met Eve's ears. Looking sideways she saw a boy – no older than twelve – in dirty rags that must have been his clothes one day. The boy was curled in on himself and was lightly shaking.

"Hey," Eve said gently. The boy completely stilled his movement. "Where are we?"

Uncurling himself and turning his head her way, Eve had to control every vibe in her body not to recoil in horror. Where once were eyes; empty, bloody sockets stared back at her. "Hell!" The child cried out in a petrified wail. "God is going to punish us!"

"This is not God's work," Eve tried to say, hoping to calm him down even a bit, but he did not seem to hear her. His wails grew louder and more panicked and his hands went to his face, he started scratching bloody gashes into his dirty skin with his nails.

This is Jacob, Eve realized with a pang. The first person who went missing. Looking around the place they were in, her eyes scanned the features of the people closest to her – as far as they were recognizable, that is. They all are!

Footsteps sounded in the distance. Eve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion – were they going to be saved? – but it had a whole different reaction on the other prisoners. All of them grew completely silent and cowered back in their cages. The footsteps echoed louder and came closer as well.

Finally, Eve could make out the person walking towards them. It appeared to be a man. Tall and lean in build. Even in the darkness of their surroundings, Eve could make out his odd white hair that stood out like a sore thumb. Slitted violet eyes scanned the cages, almost in excitement, and Eve felt whatever little hope she had left fall away. He's the shadow who took me, she knew.

The man stopped in front of her own small cage. Eve strained her neck, staring into that cold, fathomless gaze of his.

'The eyes are like a mirror to the soul', her mother used to tell her when she was still alive, but staring into the eyes of the creature standing before her. Eve saw nothing. Nothing at all.